


I Know I Saw A Dog....

by PumpkinDoodles



Series: Taserbones Tumblr Prompts & Tiny (Adorkable) Fics [57]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: And Steals Darcy's Pretzels, Brock Rumlow Howls at the Moon, F/M, TripleAgent!Rumlow, Weird Serum Side Effects, Werewolves, but cuddly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:33:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29193867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinDoodles/pseuds/PumpkinDoodles
Summary: “Somebody snuck a dog into the building the other day,” Darcy said. “I want to find the dog so I can pet it---what’s wrong?” she asked. Cam had gone a little pale.“What night?” he said.“Umm, Wednesday?” Darcy said. “Sort of Labrador-sized, dark? Could we find him on the security footage?”“I’m sorry, but uh, I really can’t help you,” Cam said, looking, well, odd. “New rules about the system feeds.”“Okay,” Darcy said. She thought he’d walk away, but Cam actually leaned in.“Darce, if you see a big, dark dog in this building that looks like a--a sled dog, do not approach, okay?” he said, eyes wide and serious. “I really mean it.”“O-okay,” Darcy said, more slowly. “Gotcha.” She nodded. Cam looked relieved.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Brock Rumlow
Series: Taserbones Tumblr Prompts & Tiny (Adorkable) Fics [57]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1484168
Comments: 53
Kudos: 391





	I Know I Saw A Dog....

**Author's Note:**

> *I own nothing! Anon requested a cute werewolf tropes story, inspired by this post: https://harpsicalbiobug.tumblr.com/post/171335569306/cayliana-gehayi-morathor-dickless-mic

“I can’t believe I’m out here by myself,” Darcy said, reaching into the back of their station wagon. “It is three am. Three am!” She clunked her machinery onto a rolling cart. Jane was working late. The wagon was the only car in the parking lot. Well, there was an SUV parked a few rows down. But that was probably a field vehicle left at SHIELD overnight. Even the workaholics didn’t work until three. “Nope, just me,” she muttered to herself. “Out here, risking my actual life for astrophysics.” She kept a wary eye out for stranglers, muggers, and other assorted murdery types as she swiped her card at the entrance. The red light turned green with a ping. “Made it again, still alive,” she said, when the door had whooshed shut behind her. She would get coffee, she thought. She  _ deserved _ coffee. She put in an earbud and cranked up Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” so she could sing along. Darcy was rolling Jane’s cart upstairs to the lab at SHIELD, bopping along to her earbuds, when something in her peripheral vision caught her eye. A labrador-sized pair of legs and a fluffy tail disappearing around the corner of one hallway. “Ohhhhhhhhhh,” Darcy said. She left the cart and peeked around the corner to see where the dog went. But it was gone. It must’ve gone into a room, she thought. She tried several of the doors, but they were all locked. She was heading back to the cart when she spotted something on the floor. A dog toy.

“Jane!” she said, when she pushed the cart into the lab. “Somebody snuck a dog in here!”

“Huh?” Jane said.

“I saw a dog!” Darcy said. 

“You saw a dog?” Jane repeated skeptically.

“I have proof!” Darcy said. She held the dog toy aloft and crinkled it.

“Oh,” Jane said. “What does that say?”

“Pawrotein. It’s a protein bar crinkle toy for dogs,” Darcy said. “I think the squeaker’s broken though.” She squeezed the toy experimentally. It was a little slobbery.

“Weird,” Jane said. She paused. “Did you get coffee?” she asked.

“Oh my God,” Darcy said. “We’ve got an actual dog stowaway and you’re not even interested.”

“Well, you’re not turning them in to HR,” Jane said, as if it was self-explanatory.

“Of course not. I want to pet the dog,” Darcy said. “I’m going to make coffee.” She left the equipment and dog toy in the lab and schlepped down one floor to the nearest breakroom. She’d filled the coffee reservoir and was waiting for the machine to brew when Darcy heard the faint sound of barking. She leaned out of doorway, looking right and then left. “Dammit,” she muttered. The noise was so distant, it was impossible to determine where the dog was--it was a hoarse, echoing sound that reminded her of Mickey, one of her childhood dogs, who’d been debarked by a previous owner. Mickey’s vocal chords had half grown back, so she had a weird, cough-like bark that sounded like she was far away.  _ I didn’t know people still did that, _ Darcy thought, wandering around the floor and peering into darkened offices and conference rooms. 

She couldn’t find the mysterious dog. Finally, she gave up and returned to the break room, more than a little disappointed, and finished their coffees. She came back into the lab with the drinks and sat down with a thunk and a sigh. “I didn’t get to pet the dog,” she said mournfully. “But I did find some Dry Erase markers in one of the supply closets.”

“Cool,” Jane said.

“I’m disappointed,” Darcy said. She stuck the dog toy on a shelf above her desk, next to her Rainbow Brite Funko. She was going to find the dog sometime, she thought. She just needed information.

* * *

“Cam,” Darcy said, snagging Cameron Klein in the hallway the next week. “I need information.”

“Sure,” Cam said. “What do you need to know?” Darcy leaned in to whisper.

“Somebody snuck a dog into the building the other day,” she said. “I want to find the dog so I can pet it---what’s wrong?” she asked. Cam had gone a little pale.

“What night?” he said.

“Umm, Wednesday?” Darcy said. “Sort of Labrador-sized, dark? Could we find him on the security footage?”

“I’m sorry, but uh, I really can’t help you,” Cam said, looking, well, odd. “New rules about the system feeds.”

“Okay,” Darcy said. She thought he’d walk away, but Cam actually leaned in.

“Darce, if you see a big, dark dog in this building that looks like a--a sled dog, do not approach, okay?” he said, eyes wide and serious. “I really mean it.”

“O-okay,” Darcy said, more slowly. “Gotcha.” She nodded. Cam looked relieved.

“Good,” he said. Darcy went back to the lab, thinking about what Cam had implied:  _ there was a big, dangerous dog at SHIELD. Had they made an alien dog?  _ She was thinking about it when a hand landed on her shoulder.

“Ahhhhh!” she said, jumping. She almost knocked over the bag of pretzels at her elbow.

“Sorry,” a male voice said, as Darcy spun in her chair. She was looking at the mid-chest of one of those STRIKE dudes. This was Rumlow, the triple agent one. He’d been badly burned while infiltrating HYDRA, done a stint as an undercover mercenary called Crossbones, stealing back SHIELD stuff, then been healed by Helen Cho. Now he was all dark and handsome. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said in his low, raspy voice.

“Hi,” Darcy said. “Rumlow.”

“Hey,” he said. “You’ve got my toy.” He pointed.

“Your what?” Darcy said, then realized he was pointing at the Pawrotein Toy. “Ohhhh,” she said. “It’s your dog?” she said quietly.

“Uhhh, yeah,” he said. “More or less.” He smirked at her. Jane thought his smirk was creepy, Darcy knew, but she thought he was kinda hot. Okay, really hot, she amended, as he stretched out a tattooed, muscular arm to reach the shelf.

“Can I meet him?” Darcy asked, half-genuine, half-curious about his reaction. 

“What?” he said. He half-turned his head to look at her, grimacing.

“Your dog, I want to meet him,” she said.

“No can do, sweetheart,” Rumlow said.

“He’s dangerous?” Darcy asked.

“It’s above your clearance level,” he said mysteriously. “But no, not dangerous. To you.”

“What if I bake you cupcakes?” she offered.

“Eh,” Rumlow said. “I don’t eat desserts. I’m a protein guy.” He shrugged and tossed the toy between his hands, tilting his chin up. His expression grew perplexed. “Your boss is asleep,” he said, clearly trying to distract her so he could grab one of her pretzels. Darcy swiveled her head towards Jane. She was napping on a huge binder of readouts.

“She naps in the afternoons,” Darcy said casually. “We work late. And I saw that.”

“Yeah,” he said, chewing.

“I find it incredible that I’ve got double chocolate cupcakes and all this” —she gestured to her face and chest—“yet you don’t bite,” she said.

“I bite sometimes,” he said, smirking. He stepped backwards towards the lab door, still tossing the toy. “You take care now, Lewis. Behave yourself.”

“It’s extremely rude to deny me puppy facetime!” Darcy yelled at him as the door shut. She heard him laugh. She shook her head. “Way rude,” she muttered to herself softly.

* * *

She was working late in the lab on the eleventh--both a full moon and Tortellini Day, according to her calendar--when she heard it. Howling. “The dog!” she said out loud. She turned to look at Jane. “You hear that?”

“Yeah. Weird,” Jane said.

“I’m investigating,” Darcy announced, standing up.

“Be careful, Nancy Drew!” Jane called as Darcy hurried out of the lab. 

“I’ll be fine!” she insisted. It was eleven forty-two. “It’s a dog,” she said to herself. Rumlow had said the dog wasn’t dangerous, after all. Darcy peered around the corner, hearing whining and scuffing noises coming from the next round of doors. “There you are,” she said, as a the tops of a pair of ears appeared at the bottom edge of the door’s window. The whining grew louder. Darcy walked up to the window and peered in. The dog--an unusual dark-colored husky with amber eyes--barked furiously at her, tail wagging. It was a friendly bark, she decided. Darcy pushed the dog open and the dog barrelled into the hallway with her. She spotted his toy on the floor behind the door and retrieved it, as he smelled her feet and legs. “Hey!” Darcy said, as a cold nose stuck itself into the back of her leggings. “No goosing, goosing bad!” she said. The dog did one of those playbow moves and looked absolutely unrepentant. He barked. “Where’s Rumlow?” Darcy asked. He barked twice, more enthusiastically. His prick ears flicked back and forth as he playbowed again. Darcy tossed the toy down the corridor and he ran, sliding, to the other end. She only had to chase him a little to get the toy back as they played fetch. Ten minutes later, she was breathing heavily and the dog was completely  _ not  _ exhausted. “Someone’s energetic,” Darcy said. He barked loudly. She threw the toy a few more times, until her arm started to hurt. Darcy decided to sneak him into the lab with her. “Come on,” she said, patting her leg. He jogged along with her, tail swinging back and forth. 

“You’re stealing dogs now?” Jane said, when a happy Darcy appeared.

“It’s not stealing if we’re still on premises,” Darcy insisted. She was carefully omitting Cam’s warning. Jane might take it seriously.

“What’s his name?” Jane asked, as Darcy scratched the dog’s ears. She reached down to look at the tag on his collar. It looked like a SHIELD tracker.

“It says Commander?” Darcy said. Underneath that,  _ B. Rumlow  _ was written alongside a phone number.

“Who names their dog Commander?” Jane said. At the sound of his name, Commander wagged his tail.

“Rumlow,” Darcy said. The dog barked. “Do you know dad’s name? Where’s Rumlow, huh?” The dog gamboled back and forth, shaking his toy.

“Pffhhhht,” Jane said. “Rumlow’s creepy. He looks like he has an anger problem and he’s obviously vain about his dumb haircut.” Commander had looked at Jane when she started speaking and actually whined around his toy. Darcy burst out laughing.

“It’s like he understood you!” she said.

“Thank God he doesn’t,” Jane said. “I swear to God, Rumlow looks like a date rapist.” At that, Commander flattened his ears and whined more loudly.

“He must understand tone of voice,” Darcy said. “Don’t upset him.” 

“Okay,” Jane said. Commander barked, flinging back his head. The bark turned into a brief howl.

“Awwww,” Darcy said. She finished her work—periodically stopping to scratch behind his ears and play with him—and took several photos of the dog. “We should get a dog,” Darcy said.

“You’re finishing two articles,” Jane said. Darcy had her own research now. 

“Don’t be a funsucker,” Darcy said, playing tug-of-war with Commander. “The timing’s good.” She scrunched her nose. “Becki had her baby last year and Kate’s having her second one,” she said aloud.

“Are you comparing getting a dog to all the people we know who are ABD or just got tenure and are having babies?” Jane said incredulously.

“It’s the same principle!” Darcy insisted. “I have a job and a fixed location. Don’t be one of those annoying people who don’t understand childfree, single women with advanced degrees and adorable dogs,” she huffed. She rubbed Commander’s ears and grinned into his face. “It’s totally my plan, isn’t it? Have somebody like you? Uh-huh,” she said in a cheery voice. The dog licked her face and Darcy laughed. It was even funnier when he got her unawares and gave kisses when she was yawning. “Hey!” Darcy said.

“Gross,” Jane said.

“Pffht, I’ve seen you suck face with Thor for  _ hours,”  _ Darcy said. “I’m taking a nap. Wake me up when you’re calling it a day.” She got a sleeping bag and pillow out of the cabinet and crawled onto a free lab table. Commander looked at her from the floor, head tilting. “Can you jump up here?” Darcy asked. As if he understood her, he hopped onto the table and lay down next to her. 

“When’s Rumlow coming to get him?” Jane asked, as Darcy sleepily scrolled through her phone.

“I don’t know,” Darcy replied. Commander nosed at her elbow and she grinned. It was weird that Rumlow never showed up, though. Jane was on one of her science binges and Darcy fell asleep with her arm around the large dog. When she woke up, he was gone. Jane was snoozing, face first, on her desk. Rumlow must’ve come by, Darcy thought.

* * *

“I didn’t think I needed to remind you that the containment room is supposed to be containing you during your….serum-induced episodes?” Hill said to Rumlow. He glanced up from his desk and grinned. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rumlow said.

“Really? Because your tracking collar suggests otherwise,” she said. 

“Maybe the tech isn’t working?” he suggested.

“Stop wandering around,” Hill said, looking cool and stern. She leaned forward. “What if Darcy Lewis had decided to take you home last night? You know the condition that you’re in when you reverse!” She sounded more horrified.

“It’s not like she doesn’t know me, so what if she sees me in just the collar,” he began, then frowned. “Do you think I have the face of a date rapist? Foster thinks I look creepy.”

“What?” Hill said.

“Foster don’t like me so much,” Rumlow said, scrunching his nose. “I think it’s mostly my face, we don’t even talk.”

“I’m not answering that question,” Hill said, turning. She stopped and looked back. “Why?” she said.

“Huh?” he said.

“Why go out?” she said. “You’ve got food and water and a bed in the room. Why sleep on a table in Foster’s lab?”

“I just wanted to play fetch,” he said. “I got bored. I’m a social animal.”

“Uh-huh,” Hill said.

“I might have separation anxiety,” he insisted, as she walked out of his office. 

“Don’t gnaw on your blinds,” she told him.

“That wasn’t me!” he lied. He couldn’t remember if he’d chewed them or not. The edges  _ were _ a little bent. “I think it was Rollins!” he called out.

“Nice try,” she said. “Rollins was in confinement upstate.”

“You don’t know when they got chewed,” he said. “When’s Jack getting back?” She walked away without answering. Bored, Brock decided to go downstairs for coffee. Maybe he could find somebody and spar a little, he thought. He had too much energy in the days after a shift. He didn’t like being by himself when his body thrummed with energy.

  
  


* * *

“Hey!” Darcy said, spotting Rumlow in the coffee line. “I have something for Commander,” she said, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned.

“Huh?” he said, grinning.

“Look!” Darcy said, reaching into her bag. “A Pop Tart plush!” Her voice was excited, she realized, then pushed away any feelings of embarrassment. Dog toys were cute. She’d spent $10, so she ought to be proud of herself.

“You got my dog a toy?” he said slowly, grinning at her in a too-knowing way. He reached over and squeaked the toy.  _ Squeak-squeak-squeak.  _ He actually took it away from her and kept squeaking it.

“I like him, don’t make jokes--and stop that,” Darcy said, putting her hands on her hips. He laughed at her, a sharp, barking laugh. Then he actually leaned forward and smelled her. “What are you doing?” she said.

“You smell good,” he said. “C’mere.” He pulled her in closer and stuck his nose close to her hair, snuffling noisily. “I gotta smell that.”

“People are staring,” Darcy said.

“It’s cinnamon and vanilla,” he said. He exhaled forcefully, then sucked in air again. “And a little something skanky. I like it.”

“It’s perfume,” she said, wiggling. “You sound like you’re hunting for truffles.”

“I fucking love truffles,” he said. “You wanna go to dinner with me?”

“What?” Darcy said, surprised by his shift in subject.

“You eat food,” he said. “C’mon. Sneak off with me. I’m bored and I’m hungry.”

“Now?” Darcy said. “It’s four-thirty?”

“Live a little,” he said. “You can come back and work until three in the morning as usual.” She couldn’t think of a reason to say no. Also, she  _ was  _ hungry.

“Okay,” Darcy said. “But I promised Jane coffee first.”

  
  


* * *

“Mmmm,” Brock said, “this chicken is not bad.” The woman across the table looked at him with wide eyes.

“Are you eating off my plate?” Darcy said to him. They were sitting in a restaurant near SHIELD’s headquarters. It was so early, the only other diners were over sixty.

“Do you mind?” Brock said, feeling himself smile. “I like food.”

“But not my brownies?” she said. She’d been trying to talk him into letting her pet-sit his non-existent dog in exchange for baked goods. He couldn’t exactly explain why it was a bad idea.

“Chicken is superior to brownies,” he declared, stealing another forkful off her plate. She didn’t seem defensive, he thought. Just puzzled. It was because her subconscious mind had probably figured out something was off with him. It happened sometimes.

“I don’t understand your priorities,” Darcy said, frowning. 

“I bet you understand them better than you think,” he said. “Also, I’m a little bit allergic to brownies...now.”

“You are?” she said, looking horrified. He grinned. 

“It’s a weird side effect of a HYDRA serum,” he admitted. “No chocolate, no onions, and no raisins.”

“Oh em gee,” she said, “I’m sorry.” Her expression was genuinely sympathetic. She was a total softie, he thought. Complete marshmallow. He would be spoiled--both versions of him--if he kept sneaking around to see Darcy Lewis.

“Why are you sorry?” he said.

“Because I love Raisinettes,” Darcy said. “Like, really love them.”

“You can have mine when we go to a movie,” Brock said.

“What are your feelings about popcorn?” she said.

“I fucking love it,” he said.

**Author's Note:**

> Pawrotein Squeaky! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289919294768425052/


End file.
